Chapter 166: Intermission

Regarding George’s behavior, Knight Ahuatan really couldn’t say much. Although it seemed a bit selfish, this was the norm in this world. Regardless, if he improved while others improved, in a sense, nothing had changed.

George himself did not have any thoughts of benefiting all mankind, and more importantly, he did not have the ability. Things like teaching an apprentice who then kills the master were naturally to be avoided if possible. Besides, whether it was technology or systems, only by keeping them exclusive or monopolized could one obtain the greatest benefit for oneself.

Of course, technological monopolies could be kept secret, but changes in systems were not so easy to hide. At this time, other methods were needed to increase the difficulty and cost for others to imitate. This made it impossible for them to copy everything completely. Of course, if they used this as a reference to create their own system, that was their skill, and George could only have nothing to say.

Of course, all this took time. Specific learning, imitation, and self-transformation took time, and confirming the effectiveness of the reforms also took time. This meant that the Bolerum Territory could gain a lead of at least a few years. If they could seize the opportunity after taking the lead, they might be able to widen the gap with others further.

And changes in military systems, without verification in actual combat, would be absolutely difficult to convince those soldiers and civil officials who were used to the old rules. Currently, no one in the Duchy of Nohan had such intentions. Otherwise, they would definitely have sent a group of related personnel to stay in the Bolerum Territory, just like before.

The earliest reforms came from the economy. In less than three years, the actual income of the Bolerum Territory had doubled. Of course, the specific figures were not visible to the Lords of other territories. Even in the Bolerum Territory, apart from George, only the Lord Viscount knew the relatively accurate information.

But the changes in the Bolerum Territory were real. The city, becoming more prosperous by the day, and the increasing number of passing Caravans were clearly telling people that wealth was hidden here. The prosperity of business was destined to bring a substantial increase in taxes, and similarly, it could bring convenience and relative cheapness to the procurement of bulk commodities. The former was definitely something most Lords could see. Even if some Nobles didn’t understand it themselves, the civil officials and aides they raised were absolutely clear about it—this was their livelihood.

So, before long, a large group of spies under the guise of doing business arrived in the Bolerum Territory. Although these guys used business as an excuse, they didn’t participate much in commodity trading. Instead, they ran around all day, inquiring about news unrelated to specific transactions. Although the Bolerum Territory hadn’t formally established a unified intelligence network at that time, the other party’s clumsy cover-up methods couldn’t hide from those who were paying attention.

At the beginning, George was shocked when he got a little news, almost thinking that war was coming. But after sending people to investigate later, George’s heart, which had been hanging in mid-air, finally settled down. As for the attitude towards these spies, as long as they had a cover, they were all ignored.

After all, there was no good solution if this kind of thing was exposed. Like stealing technology from workshops, that could be used to punish them. But with the current method, as long as they cared about saving face for both families and weren’t blatant about it, according to the customs of this time, people basically turned a blind eye. This was just like how all diplomats were the most important intelligence personnel; it was a tacit understanding between nations.

Of course, for those guys who didn’t care about face at all, even if they couldn’t deal with them openly, it was quite easy to trip them up secretly on one’s own turf. Many times, George had to adapt to this kind of behavior that looked like smiling faces on the surface but stabbing each other in the back. However, those who dared to be so unscrupulous were basically not members within the Duchy. After all, seeing each other often meant that face had to be considered, right?

Unfortunately, those spies didn’t make much progress in the end. Because the prosperity of the Bolerum Territory was built on the deep-water port Morbihan and high-yield salt fields. The former brought excellent and convenient transportation and shipping environment, and the latter was an expensive daily necessity that was in absolute short supply.

And the institutional reform just gave full play to these original good natural conditions. As for the new products in various workshops, although they wouldn’t be reduced to merely icing on the cake, they also relied on the former to achieve their current good development.

And the vast majority of other Territories did not possess these two conditions, so those Territories with the idea of copying basically returned in failure. Of course, there were some places that achieved partial results through changes, but they were far less obvious than in the Bolerum Territory.

If the first time was unintentionally planting a willow that grew into shade, George, after understanding the situation, deliberately reduced the versatility in the subsequent establishment of systems. Because he knew that in the current social environment, although administrative agencies couldn’t be said to be like sieves, many things couldn’t be kept secret—this was true for both oneself and others.

In the end, after struggling internally, Knight Ahuatan’s sense of responsibility as a Knight defeated that spirit of universal love that he couldn’t even name himself. He said with a dry laugh: “George, you have your own considerations. I don’t have much talent in this area, so it’s better to listen to you.”

Throughout the afternoon after the battle stopped, the soldiers of Brandenburg, with the help of civilian laborers, dealt with the aftermath. Large amounts of Ebony planks, sleepers, oiled iron nails, and hemp ropes were taken out of the warehouses. This was to repair those Watchtowers destroyed by the White Dragon.

As for the fireproof leather, they were looking for them from the scattered wreckage. Previously, this kind of supply was somewhat insufficient, and now there was no hope of finding spares in the warehouse. Although not many of these items were completely destroyed in the previous attack, some fell under the piles of corpses outside the city wall. Given the current situation, those were basically impossible to retrieve. So even if the repairs were completed, the protection of those Watchtowers would not be as good as before.

The rows of single-story houses in the city suddenly collapsed, like bodies without skeletons. The Dragon corpse falling from the sky was sudden, giving people no time to catch their breath. In the blink of an eye, those familiar houses and streets turned into chaotic ruins made of huge rubble.

The huge body of the Dragon itself further increased the difficulty of cleaning work. After all, dragging this thing away as a whole was not an easy task. The soldiers on the scene could only move it, trying to roll it into a ball as much as possible to make enough space for the cleaning work. Some people also used bottles to hold the blood flowing from the Dragon; this was a very expensive Alchemy raw material.

Fortunately, those single-story houses in Brandenburg were official property. Otherwise, the merchants doing business here would definitely have cried their hearts out. Of course, for the officials, using soldiers to help build such simple houses when they were idle was not a big deal.

And at another place, a warehouse buried by a landslide and a platform on the cliff. This was the top priority of the cleaning work. The former stored winter clothing for more than half of the Brandenburg army. Although the weather was getting colder, it hadn’t reached the point where they must wear cotton-padded jackets yet.

Coupled with the battle in the past few days, the soldiers hadn’t been able to change their outfits. This was a huge hidden danger! If cold air suddenly dropped, the soldiers of Brandenburg might be defeated by General Winter’s cold wind before being defeated by the Barbarians heading south.

And the latter was an extremely important firepower point. The Catapult installed on it performed better than a hundred archers in the city defense battle. Although the Catapult crushed by falling rocks was destined to be unrepairable, some usable replacement parts could still be found from it. The most important thing was to clean up the pile of rocks as soon as possible and repair the platform itself. And set up the spare Catapult as soon as possible to deal with the possible attacks from the Barbarians next.

And the Barbarians seemed to have exhausted their strength due to the morning offensive, huddled in the northern camp throughout the afternoon. There was no sign or trend of starting a war again. Thanks to them, George and the others also had a relatively leisurely afternoon. Brandenburg in wartime had no conditions to boil hot water for bathing. After hastily dealing with personal hygiene with cold water, George welcomed his long-overdue lunch.

Perhaps because it was delayed by the war, this late lunch seemed very simple. A large basin of onion and cabbage soup stewed until mushy, plus a large plate of roast meat, with Black Bread as the staple food. Although the bread was cold and hard, fortunately, the vegetable soup was boiling hot, and the vegetables inside were mushy. After soaking the Black Bread in it and taking a delicious bite, there was a uniquely different taste.

And the few sacks of potatoes brought earlier showed their use this time. After being mashed, they were almost half-melted into the vegetable soup. Before drinking, except for George, no one else seemed to notice this change. But in the end, the pasty soup base showed a smooth texture, bringing a new feeling to the taste buds after being used to rough food for a long time.

And roast meat was something that hadn’t been seen for a few days since the Barbarians arrived. Did the quartermasters go outside the city to buy it at some point? Unfortunately, the meat was on the fatty side. Fortunately, it was roasted a bit dry. Biting it in the mouth, there was a “crunch, crunch” crisp sound, and delicious fat overflowed. If one could pour a mouthful of low-alcohol wine at this time, the taste would be quite good. Unfortunately, Brandenburg in wartime strictly prohibited drinking.

‘Damn it, why would I have such a thought? Clearly, the battle didn’t give me much pressure! Why would I suddenly want to drink!’ George, continuing to grind the roast meat that was crisp yet a bit tough with his teeth, was reflecting on the thought that just popped up in his mind.

“If only we had Cider, it would taste absolutely amazing with this roast meat,” Chrispian said after swallowing a piece of roast meat in his mouth.

“Exactly, exactly, as long as it’s not Ale, the taste with this roast meat could be called good,” Aldred immediately agreed in response.

At this time, Green, who had finished the roast meat in his hand, reached his hand into Ben’s plate and successfully sent a piece of the other party’s roast meat into his own mouth.

“You actually stole my roast meat?” Ben, who was originally a bit absent-minded, immediately acted like a cat spotting a mouse, grabbing Green who was preparing to commit the crime again.

The latter, after being caught, instead put on a wronged look and said: “Didn’t I see that the roast meat in your plate hadn’t been touched? I originally thought it didn’t suit your appetite, and you were just sitting next to George and didn’t want to say it out loud for the sake of face. I just wanted to help you solve this embarrassment.”

“How could it not suit my appetite? It’s rare to have time now. I just wanted to save them for the end to chew slowly.” Saying that, Ben glanced sideways at Green.

“Alright Ben, stop hiding it. I know what happened in the morning stimulated you a lot. But a good man doesn’t fight a woman, you should just let it go in this regard!” George, who had finished his lunch first, teased.

Ben immediately bristled like a cat whose tail was stepped on and retorted: “How is that possible? I killed so many Barbarians and wasn’t affected at all. How could a mere little girl do anything to me?”

“If you really weren’t affected at all, with Green’s strength, he wouldn’t have had the chance to take away your roast meat right under your nose.” George dealt a heavy blow to Ben’s fake and thin defense.

“Fine! Fine! Since you all know. I, Lord Ben Andrews Markin, was scolded for a full fifteen minutes today by the young lady of the Cranston family whom I saved.” Ben said through gritted teeth. Saying that, he let go of Green, grabbed a piece of roast meat, and stuffed it into his mouth.

Aldred said with an expression as if he had seen a ghost: “Scolded for fifteen minutes? Did you just stand there and let her scold you? Why didn’t you just walk away?”

As soon as the voice fell, Chrispian, with a mischievous smile on his face, nudged Aldred with his elbow and said: “Maybe Ben has taken a fancy to the young lady of the Cranston family! Otherwise, do you think he would stand there and be scolded by her for such a long time for nothing? And didn’t you notice Ben’s expression just now? He’s clearly lovesick…”

“Smack!” Before Chrispian finished speaking, Ben swept the vegetable soup in his basin clean in one breath, and then used the spoon as a weapon to hit Chrispian. Of course, for a Squire, this blow was painless, although it made the other party’s words pause slightly. But that mischievous expression seemed to be contagious; now it was definitely not just one person.

Seeing this situation, Ben said angrily: “You’re the one who fell in love with that tin can at first sight! She was wearing a full helmet at the time, who knows what she actually looks like! If it weren’t for the speaking voice and the way people around addressed her, who could know that guy was a female. At that time, I just felt that what I had sarcastically said earlier was to a girl, so I felt a bit sorry.”

“Oh! So you were cherishing the fair sex!” George’s facial expression remained unchanged as he touched his chin and nodded, making “Mmhmm! Mmhmm!” sounds.

Green suddenly asked: “I say George, what does this ‘cherishing the fair sex’ mean?”

“A term I found a while ago from the ancient books bought from The East. Generally speaking, it’s similar to praising someone’s gentlemanly demeanor.” George had now reached the level where he could talk nonsense with a straight face.

“But why do I feel that what you said doesn’t sound like a good thing.” Ben said, looking at George with suspicion.

George waved his hand and said: “You are overthinking it.”

Hiren, who hadn’t appeared for so long, after being trained by Knight Val, went with him to collect the Loot. The so-called Loot was of course the two Dragons that fell onto Brandenburg after being beaten to death by him.

That corpse was a treasure all over: the hard Dragon scales and Dragon skin all over the body could be used to make leather armor with strength not inferior to steel, and it had obvious advantages in weight. Most importantly, this kind of armor could effectively resist damage from certain special energies. If it was a White Dragon, it corresponded to ice. Dragon bones and Dragon tendons could be forged into powerful weapons and equipment, especially certain powerful bows and arrows. Dragon teeth were even the best natural raw materials for weapons; they were the hardest part of the Dragon’s body and could already be said to be the prototype of a weapon.

The remaining internal organs and blood were all very expensive and rare Alchemy and Magic materials. In fact, the bones and Dragon teeth mentioned earlier were also important Alchemy and spellcasting materials. For example, the famous ‘Dragon Tooth Soldiers’ required Dragon teeth as spellcasting materials when summoning.

That was a kind of Golem very similar to Necromantic creatures, also summoned and made based on the bone remains of dead creatures. However, because the material naturally possessed strong Magic and a hard texture, they became loyal soldiers capable of matching warriors of Red Iron or even Black Lead Rank.

Those Golems made with Dragon teeth as materials inherited the Dragon’s incredible magic resistance, and bones even harder than Dragon scales. Weapons derived from the same texture were equivalent to a low-level Enchanted item, enough to pierce most armors made of ordinary steel! If the number was sufficient, it would be a silent and powerful army. However, due to demand, most Dragon teeth were still made into daggers or Longswords.

As for the legendary treasure Dragon crystal, it should be the treasure of Mages. Although Knights couldn’t use it effectively, it didn’t hinder its priceless value at all.

And George and the others, who were idle, also discovered the source of those fresh vegetables and meat while moving around the city. It turned out that goods were hoisted up from under the city using cranes set up on the southern city wall. Only then did he remember that there was no moat outside the southern city wall, and at the same time, he realized the strong desire of merchants to make money.

Brandenburg appeared quite quiet after nightfall, except that Sir Feld experienced what was called three scares in one night.